


Childhood Promises

by eevee44



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Kid Fic, as in them being children, g1 hot rod but tfp smokescreen, they're friends its cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-11-13 14:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18033173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eevee44/pseuds/eevee44
Summary: A young and lonely prince Hot Rod finds a strange boy on the castle grounds, and is determined to make a new friend.





	Childhood Promises

**Author's Note:**

> What's UP this is my first fanfic and I'm already creating a new relationship tag.  
> Anyway so basically it's G1 Roddy meeting TFP Smokescreen. And they're children. And one's pseudo-medieval nobility. Oh my god what am I doing with my life. (Listen if these two had met they would've been BEST FRIENDS and so I had to write a fic abt it)  
> There's lots of historical inaccuracy - sorry, medieval enthusiasts. Just, like, have fun?  
> 

Hot Rod was wandering the halls of the castle, bored. Uncle Optimus was busy in a high council meeting, Ironhide had been out all week commanding a battle against a nearby kingdom, and Ratchet… well, the royal physician was just plain scary. When Optimus wasn’t around he spent all his time in the infirmary, and that place always smelled and was always vaguely terrifying ~~to Hot Rod’s prepubescent mind~~. That only left all the boring adults around who wanted Hot Rod to actually do stuff.

Hot Rod was walking along one of the castle’s outer corridors, stepping on each stone and counting how many there were from one end of the hall to the other – 437, he’d already counted twice – when he absentmindedly gazed out the window into the inner courtyard. To his surprise, there was someone standing there, back turned to him. They were too small to be one of the crown guard, and he couldn’t make out any armour or fancy dress, so could they be… another child, like him?

Hot Rod rushed outside to see them. Had some foreign diplomat brought over their family? Maybe Starscream was here to visit again with the rest of the Vosian noble family – but no, Starscream wouldn’t be caught dead in anything but the gaudiest gowns, so who could it be? Hot Rod’s mind was rushing with possibilities, and he was so distracted he stumbled and tripped as he ran to meet the stranger. The other boy nearly went down too, but turned around at the last second and stepped backwards, right so Hot Rod could fall flat on his face in front of him.

“Oh my gosh, are you okay?”

Hot Rod tried to respond, but his response was significantly muffled by his face being planted into the earth. The strange boy leant down and gave him a hand up. Hot Rod brushed off the dirt and grass from his shins and gave the new boy a grin. Ultra Magnus would be mad that he’d managed to get his new clothes dirty _again_ , but it was worth it to meet somebody new.

Up close, he could see the boy was wearing a simple white shirt and black pants, plain and bordering on shabby. Definitely not a noble then, so who was he? Hot Rod’s mind was full of so many questions, when he opened his mouth the first thing that came out was probably the most graceless response he could’ve said. “I _never_ see other kids here. Who are you?”

“Um, my name is – wait, you never see other kids? What about schoolmates and stuff?”

Hot Rod sighed. “I don’t get to go to school. Uncle Optimus thinks it’s better that I stay here and get all my tutors to teach me in the castle, but it’s so boring.”

“I, um…” The new kid began to respond, but then cut himself off. “Hang on, _uncle_ Optimus? The king is your uncle? Wait a second, are you the **_prince_**?!”

“Yep, I’m Hot Rod!” Hot Rod suddenly felt Ultra Magnus mentally scolding him for speaking so casually to a new acquaintance, “Um, I mean, I’m Hot Rod, prince of Iacon, next in line to the throne, at your service.” He finished his well-rehearsed greeting with a little bow. “It’s nice to meet you!” Hot Rod stuck out his hand to the dumbfounded stranger.

The boy looked up at Hot Rod’s beaming face and back down at his outstretched hand before nervously taking it. “Hi, I’m Smokescreen. Um, are we even allowed to be talking? Will I get in trouble? Ohmygosh who am I kidding I just shook the hand of the prince _this is_ _so cool!!”_

Hot Rod watched as the boy, Smokescreen, vigorously shook his hand before letting go and staring at him in awe. Hot Rod would not be deterred from making a new friend, even if this one was a little different from the cool aloofness of all the other noble families’ children he was used to. “So what are you doing here, Smokescreen?”

“My dad’s a palace guard, and my mum’s sick at the moment so dad had to look after me and I’d been begging and begging him for _months_ to be able to see the castle and he finally let me come with him!”

Hot Rod laughed at the boy’s increasingly speedy and excited tone. He decided he liked Smokescreen.

Smokescreen continued, “When I grow up, I’m gonna be a crown guard, just like my dad. No, I’m gonna be even greater, I’ll be one of the royal elite guards. I’ll be the greatest knight ever!”

Hot Rod chuckled, “Well when _I_ grow up I’m gonna be the leader of this kingdom. Does that mean you’ll be guarding me then?”

Smokescreen smiled back at him. “I guess it does.”

“Better to be guarding me than one of those stuffy old high council members. They’re so slow and boring, I’m way more fun to hang around.”

A little high pitched laugh escaped Smokescreen at Hot Rod’s words, but then he quickly covered his mouth. “You can’t say that! We might get in trouble.”

“Not when you’re the prince you don’t. Don’t worry, I’ll cover you if we get in trouble, and someday you’ll be the one covering me.”

Hot Rod got a flash of inspiration and begun looking around for a stick. He picked one off the ground and turned to face Smokescreen and told him to kneel down for a second.

He put on his best impression of his uncle’s deep and serious voice. “By my authority as ruler of this kingdom, Hot Rod Prime, I declare you, Smokescreen, a knight of this realm,” Hot Rod solemnly tapped the stick on Smokescreen’s shoulders. “Arise, Sir Smokescreen.”

Hot Rod then pointed behind a starry-eyed Smokescreen in mock horror, “Sir Smokescreen, an assassin has come for me. Protect me, brave knight!”

Smokescreen picked up another stick off the ground and brandished it at the air in the direction of the pretend-assassin. “They’ll have to go through me before they lay a finger on you, my liege.”

The two boys continued play fighting for a while, the sound of wooden sticks striking in mock-combat and peals of laughter filling the empty air of the courtyard, the young prince’s boredom long forgotten. Hot Rod felt his heart warm with companionship. Is this what having a friend was like? However, their day seemed to come to an end far too quickly.

“Smokescreen?” A voice called out from nearby.

Smokescreen froze up - he’d been sprung. “Uh oh, my dad’s here.”

An adult man clad in armour, clearly a palace guard, came through the outer doors into the courtyard. “Smokescreen, there you are. What are you doing out here, I told you not to leave the guard station.”

Smokescreen turned guiltily to look at his dad, “But Daaad, I wanted to explore the castle.”

“Come on son, we’re leaving before you can get yourself into any more trouble.” His eyes wandered to his son’s companion, and quickly grew wide with recognition. The man immediately fell into a kneel. “My deepest apologies Your Highness, I–“

Hot Rod cut him off with a dismissive wave. “No no it’s fine, Smokescreen did nothing wrong.”

Smokescreen turned to Hot Rod. “Sorry, I have to go.”

Smokescreen turned to walk back to his dad, but Hot Rod reached for his arm. “Wait, will I get to see you again?”

Smokescreen nodded, “We’ll see each other again, someday.”

“You promise?”

“Promise. Here, take this,” Smokescreen dug around in his pockets and pulled out a circular little charm with the symbol of Primus roughly cut into it.

“This is… for me?” Hot Rod had received many gifts trying to flatter his young and gullible mind by adults eager to curry favour with the future king, but none of them had been as genuine as this commoner boy now sharing with him something from his pocket.

 “Yeah! Mum told me that if I made a wish on it and carried it with me, that it’d come true. And my wish is that I’ll become the greatest knight ever, and I’ll be the one by your side protecting you,” Smokescreen clasped his hands over the charm, before nodding and giving it to Hot Rod. “And now if you carry it, it’ll be like a reminder of our promise.”

Hot Rod watched as Smokescreen walked away, and could hear him eagerly chatting to his dad at a mile a minute, and the prince felt loneliness pang at his heart. He’d never wanted this afternoon to end. He’d just made a new friend and it was already over. The courtyard was quiet now, empty as it had always been, but it seemed so much lonelier now than Hot Rod remembered it. For not the first time in his life, he was annoyed that he had to be the prince in line of the kingdom instead of out there going to school and making friends like normal kids. Hot Rod just wanted to be normal. He sulked over to the gardens and sat down on one of the benches, kicking a rock around with his foot.

Eventually his moping was interrupted by a booming voice calling out, “There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you, young man!”

Ultra Magnus, surly as ever, marched over to the garden in front of the young prince, “You better not be skipping Kup’s history homework again. Military history is vital knowledge for a future king.”

Ultra Magnus continued to ramble as they walked back inside, Hot Rod tuning out his words with practiced ease. He stuck his hands in his pockets and felt the charm Smokescreen had given to him. He felt a smile grow on his face as he thumbed over the engravings, thinking back to the afternoon he spent with his new friend. Smokescreen had not been around long, but the boy had left an impression in his heart, and had left Hot Rod with a gift and a promise. Hot Rod sent a silent prayer to Primus that the charm would work and that one day, they would meet again. 

**Author's Note:**

> Pls yell at me about transformers at my tumblr [acetrainerjess](http://acetrainerjess.tumblr.com/)  
> 


End file.
